Art and Fashion - Essay Example

? Art and Fashion The paper looks into how the elements of Surrealism and notions of femininity emerged significant in fashion designs by Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1920s and 1930s. The paper will discuss the features that were significant in works of Schiaparelli and the implications they had on her work. It is also necessary to look into other Surrealists that collaborated with Schiaparelli and the designs they discovered. The paper will also highlight one of Schiaparelli’s fashion design and its relevance in the fashion industry and the society at large. Art and Fashion Introduction Elsa Schiaparelli was a surrealist who has a rich and pertinent contribution to the movement. She was an artist who questioned the traditional manifestation of femininity through playfulness, shifting beyond the idea of females as objects of men consumption and changing the female body into an autonomous entity that reveled in stylish sexual display (Buxbaum, 2005). Schiaparelli’s well known designs in regard to fetish, gender and sexuality, were feminine and functional and at the same time maintained the theme of Surrealist of the woman body as fetish. Schiaparelli is well remembered for working together with Salvador Dali and through their work, Surrealist work become animated and also gained life (Watt, 2012). Through working together with Dali, Schiaparelli took fashion out of the closet, turning it into dressing with attitude. Dali had much respect on the way Schiaparelli’s designs were able to bring out physical revelation to the fantasies of the insensible mind. In addition, Dali had respect on Schiaparelli’s ability to come up with a form of feminine beauty matching to male’s erotic imagination. The materiality of dressing, when used as an adornment of the body, turned Surrealist work into visual fashion, and fashion gave way for the creation of well-designed pieces out of extraordinary or ordinarily less useful objects. These facts form a basis for the explanation of why Dali and fellow Surrealists had much attraction to haute couture (Passeron, 2001). Significance of elements of surrealism and notions of femininity in fashion designs by Elsa Schiaparelli One issue that is worth considering is that a majority of Schiaparelli’s work has become a key contributor in clothing design, but, unfortunately, her contribution goes unrecognized. However, Schiaparelli in collaboration with Dali managed to bring Surrealism to life, animating paintings and changing art into wearable and functional element. Schiaparelli was well aware that clothes and accessories had the ability to function as an extension of a woman, enabling women to change their personality and make a choice of what they intend to become. Apart from collaborating with Dali, Schiaparelli also collaborated with other Surrealists such as Oppenheim, Giacometti, Aragon, Fini, and Triolet in making jewelry and perfume containers and clothing. In addition, Schiaparelli's personal collections were also thematically Surrealist (Baudot, 2006). Different from the long-term Coco Channel whose pieces of work continue to bloom, the House of Schiaparelli has not managed to achieve such stable popularity. In the same breath, Schiaparelli’s pieces of art have not been able to trigger a fabulous deal of significant analysis compared to Coco channel (Peacock, 1993). Therefore, Schiaparelli’s contributions in the fashion industry are yet to be fully acknowledged. Many have dismissed Schiaparelli’s contributions on grounds that they are derivative and others accusing her of stealing other people’s ideas. The 2007 V&A even staged fashions by Schiaparelli, but this was one of a few exhibitions that staged her work. Therefore, finding exhibitions with Schiaparelli’s work remains extremely rare and the last exhibition that had an exclusive devotion to her work took place in September 2002 and January 2003 at the museum of art in Philadelphia (Wood, 2007). Contrary to what is mentioned above, there were a number of publications on fashion that focused on Schiaparelli’s pieces of work. Examples of such publications include the psychology of clothes by J.C Flugel as well as articles by Tristan Tzara. Tzara’s article, which was published in the Surrealist journal minotaure, focused on the sexual symbolism of hats designed by Schiaparelli. In the article, Tzara viewed the hats as a symbol of female genitalia. Therefore, Schiaparelli was well aware of sexual implications of clothing and easily utilized them in her collection (Wood, 2000). Schiaparelli began her collaboration with Dali in 1938 and 1939; they produced the renowned skeleton Dress and Tear Dress. The two came up with numerous designs, which managed to change the way people viewed fashion and Surrealism (Rosemont, 1998). Therefore, the works of Schiaparelli and Dali helped in refashioning the body through Surrealism, which allowed for the adoption of Surrealism into the cultural mainstream. Many believe that Schiaparelli was perhaps the first fashion designer who was part of the avant-garde. In addition, she is considered as the pioneer of later avant-garde strategies used in fashion. These strategies include ways to decontextualize and recontextualize objects, strategies to use high and low together, and strategies to apply unexpected shades of materials (McEvoy, 2009). Fashions by Schiaparelli were both practical and avant-garde. Schiaparelli’s ability to come up with drawings based on pre-existing thoughts of a woman’s erotica and sexuality literally and figuratively overturned the mainstream convention. Her presentation of sexuality was a well crafted process, with her designs exploring the women body through clothes designed to be explicitly sexualized, but not revealing excess flesh. Therefore, Schiaparelli fashions bring out conventional notions of what might be considered as erotic or sexual clothing. The fact that Schiaparelli pioneered the blurring of traditional femininity and sexuality suggests that she was an avant-garde (Lehmann, 2002). The skeleton dress At this point, it is essential to explore one of Schiaparelli’s works of art. The skeleton dress was a one-piece black dress that had a similar appearance from the front and back. The dress closes using plastic zips located on the shoulder seams and the right side of the body. The use of a combination of fabrics brings out a three-dimensional internal body figure that uses Dali’s allure with corporeality. Schiaparelli’s skin tight dress brings out the illusion of a second skin or faux anatomy. The garment’s plainness, which means that dress brings out a picture of a naked body and lack of clothing, reveals and emphasizes the personality of the wearer (Wood, 2000). The skeleton dress acts as a symbol that has hidden messages that create an individual’s identity. The choice of garment has some implications on the wearer and is useful in speaking out about the wearer. To date, Schiaparelli’s designs have received acknowledgement since they hint at the women bodies as fragile and delicate vessels. The skeleton dress together with other Schiaparelli’s designs have moved us towards new directions, explicitly revealing the woman's body and also providing a sharp contrast regarding the conventional views of femininity. Of much concern is the fact that murder, rape, and violent attack are some of the occurrences that are evoked Schiaparelli’s designs (Wood, 2000). References Baudot, F. (2006). Fashion: the twentieth century. Michigan: Universe. Buxbaum, G. (2005). Icons Of Fashion: The 20th Century. New York: Prestel Pub. Lehmann, U. (2002). Tigersprung: Fashion in Modernity. Massachusetts: MIT Press. McEvoy, A. (2009). The 1920s and 1930s. New York: Infobase Publishing. Passeron, R. (2001). Surrealism. Michigan: The University of Michigan. Peacock, J. (1993). 20Th-Century Fashion: The Complete Sourcebook. New York: Thames & Hudson. Rosemont, P. (1998). Surrealist Women: An International Anthology. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Watt, J. (2012). Elsa Schiaparelli. New York: Quadrille Publishing. Wood, G. (2000). Art nouveau and the erotic. Chicago: Harry N. Abrams. Wood, G. (2007). The surreal body: fetish and fashion. New York: V&A Publications. Read More